Thursday, October 28, 2010

Gorgeous young actor Paul Keenan who played a minor yet noticeable role as stable groom Tony Driscoll was sadly one of the first "Dynasty" actors who passed away.

Paul, who began his career in daytime as Todd Chandler on "Days of Our Lives," took over the role of Tony in season 2 episode "The Baby" in a scene prior to Krystle and Alexis' infamous studio catfight as part of Krystle's miscarriage controversy.

Later, he reprised the role in the show's 4th season for an additional 7 episodes.

Paul, who was gay (and according to Gordon Thomson's recent radio interview led a promiscuous lifestyle), left Hollywood in early 1985 having given up on a career in acting that involved being "in the closet."

He found out he had AIDS in May 1986 and went public with that information in early July 1986.

The article below is one of many publications of a news agency piece that reported the news on July 12.

A quote by Keenan missing from the version below is concerning his reaction to the news:

"It wasn't until the doctor left the room that I could begin dealing with what was happening. Even now all my emotional responses tend to facilitate. I might wake up tomorrow morning and not want to deal with it."

my first crush and role model as a 15 year old..god to see that newspaper clip "being fed by..."just breaks my heart, cause in those days being gay was bad enough but having Aids well they would want to lynch ya... still think about him and still breaks my heart...